Two American football fans got the surprise of their lives on Saturday when a North American bald eagle went rogue at a college football game in Texas, and decided to perch in the crowd.

The sizeable bird, which goes by the name of Clark, was apparently meant to fly around the stadium during the national anthem, before a 90,000-strong crowd watched the Cotton Bowl, the college football playoff semi-final between Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Clemson Tigers.

But instead of landing near his handler, he made straight for Notre Dame fan Albert Armas.

Mr Armas, 42, later admitted he was scared when the huge bird took hold of his shoulder.

His 13-year-old son Jaysen, who got tickets to the game for Christmas, spent 20 joyful seconds chuckling at his dad's expense.

He told Sports Illustrated: "When I saw the bird land [on Armas], I thought the bird had to be very tired. So I put my hand out to see what happens. And it landed on me. It was very interesting. I was very excited. It was amazing, I couldn't even believe it."

Spare a thought for his wife Kim, though - she had gone to the toilet and missed the whole thing.

Kimberley Martin, a senior NFL writer for Yahoo Sports, shared the scene on Twitter, where some called it a good omen for Notre Dame.